Preparation - Hardware

Assembly Hardwares

Part Qty Link

ø1.5 x 13.5mm pin 2 Ali Express

ø1.5 x 30mm pin 1 Amazon

M2.5X6 Screw 3 Ali Express

• Pin lengths are not required to be cut to high precision. +/- 0.5mm is fine.

1) Measure the and mark the pins 2) Cut the pins to be slightly longer than the desired length
• It is crucial to have a chamfered feature at each ends of the pin. If u are using
a Dremel, simply use a grinding tool to grind the edges of the pin at an angle
while rotating the pin with your other hand. If u do not have a Dremel, a file or
sandpaper will also work although it will require more time and effort.

3) Measure the pin and grind it down to the correct length 4) remove burrs and introduce chamfer at both ends by
grinding the pin at an angle while rotating it

5) The pin should look like the one in the picture above,
with both ends to have some chamfer
 Printed Parts Preparation
Pin-Hole Preparation Inspection
• All rotating parts that interfaces with the Ø1.5mm pin must undergo the pin-hole prep steps.

• Due to printing tolerances, It is impossible to have a Ø1.5mm pin diameter that will yield a smooth
transition fit right off the print bed. A loose pin-gear fitting will introduce significant backlash in the
system. Hence Pin hole preparation is extremely critical as follows: slight surface unevenness are
fine as long as gears are still
able to mesh properly

• Printed gears should be free from blobs, stringing, excessive layer shifts, and elephant’s
foot. Blobs and small amount of elephants foot can be removed using a hobby pen knife.
Minor layer inconsistencies are fine as long as the gear meshing is sufficiently smooth. An
example of a good gear tooth is is shown below:

Step 1: Use a 1.5 drill bit with a hand plier or a drill bit holder. Hold the 3D printed gear with another
hand and gently rotate the gear towards towards the drill bit. Be careful to not allow the drill bit to tilt • If excessive stringing is observed, enable “combing mode” in Cura or “Avoid Crossing
along the way. Continue on till the drill bit exits from the other side of pin hole. Perimeters” in Prusa Slicer and print one gear at a time to completely eliminate any
stringing issues.

Materials
Removed • Blobs can also be caused by seam lines if they are positioned at the gear tooth profile. Be
sure to set the seam line to “sharpest corner” instead of random as illustrated below.
Slight Burrs

Seam lines should be

positioned at this sharp corner

Step 2: use a Ø1.5mm pin and intentionally introduce some burrs at the edge either by using a
Dremel or sandpaper as shown. Repeat Step 1 but replace the drill bit with the burred pin. You
should notice some plastic material being removed with every pass. Try spinning the gear every time
it is fully inserted through the pin. It should spin with minimal wobbling. After several passes, it
should spin very smoothly and freely for several seconds without jamming. This indicates that the
pin hole is sufficiently enlarged.
Parts List & Print Setting
• Use 12-15mm/s outer perimeter print speed for all the gears.

• Enable “combing mode” in cura or “avoid printed parts travel” in Prusa slicer

• Seam lines should always aligned to “sharpest corner” especially for gears

• If retraction settings are not perfectly dialed in, the gears should be printed one by one to eliminate stringing

Part Name Qty

Approx Material Nozzle Layer Outer
Infill %
Print • For the Impulse Pin and balance wheel part, you will find 5 copies of
Print time weight (g) Diameter Height Perimeter Support the part with a number at the end of the filename.
01_Base 1 2h 0m 11 0.3/0.4 0.15 3 20 Yes

02_Tourbillon_Ring_Gear 1 1h 30m 4 0.3 0.15 2 0 no

03_Tourbillon_Lower_Cage 1
3h 50m 19 0.3/0.4 0.15 3 100 Yes
04_Tourbillon_Upper_Cage 1

05_Cage_Bridge 1 0h 11m 1 0.4 0.15 3 20 Yes

06_Cage_Spacer 3 0h 23m 1 0.3 0.15 3 100 no

07_Impulse_Pin 1 0h 14m 1 0.3 0.15 4 20 no Take note of the numbers at the

end
08_Hairspring 1 0h 30m 1 0.3 0.15 3 20 no

09_Balance_Wheel 1 0h 55m 5 0.3/0.4 0.15 2 10 no

Looser Fit Tighter Fit
10_Escape_Fork 1 0h 14m 1 0.3 0.15 4 100 no

11_Escape_Wheel 1 0h 40m 2 0.3 0.15 3 30 no

-2 -1 0 +1 +2
12_Washer 6 0h 5m 0 0.3 0.15 3 20 no

Tool_Spacer_Holder 1 0.3/0.4 0.15 3 20 no • The numbers at the end of filenames indicates the fitting variant of
the same part in order to cater for tolerances

• I recommend printing the part “0” first as that should work for most
Follow the print settings people. If you find that the fitting is too tight, try the printing the -1 or
-2 looser fit variant and vice versa.
Assembly - Part 5.1 : Axis 1 Tourbillon
1) Insert 3 Ø1.5mm pins into the lower cage as illustrated below. There should be about 18mm 2) insert 3x Washers into each respective pins as illustrated below

length of exposed pin for the 23mm middle pin. Double check that all pins are not visually
tilted.

13.5mm (X2)

30mm

19mm
 Assembly - Part 5.1 : Axis 1 Tourbillon
4) Inspect the Escape wheel carefully and ensure that there are no elephants foot or blobs on [Checkpoint #1]
the fingers of the wheel. Insert 2x washers to the 2 shorter pins followed by the Escape Spin Check : Give the wheel a good spin and it should rotate freely for at least 3 secs before
wheel.
stopping.

Pin - Hole Clearance Check : There should be minimal clearance between the pin and hole on
the escape wheel (just enough to provide a minimal friction spin). Try to wobble the wheel
around the pin, you should not be able to feel significant movements.

11_Escape_Wheel
Ensure that there are no elephants foot
at this part of the Escape Wheel finger
(for all fingers). Use a pen knife to clean
up wherever necessary
Spin

Pin to hole clearance needs to be

minimal. This can be achieved by
repeating step 2 on page 19 using a
pin with less burrs.
 Assembly - Part 5.1 : Axis 1 Tourbillon
5) Inspect the Escape fork carefully and ensure that there are no elephants foot or blobs at the [Checkpoint #2]
highlighted areas below. Clean up with a pen knife if necessary and insert the fork as illustrated 1. Spin Check : Give the wheel a slow and steady spin clockwise and the escape fork
below
should rock forward and backwards with little resistance as it interacts with the escape
• There are 2 fork variants that has slightly different profiles. Start with the optimized version and if wheel fingers.You could refer to my detailed assembly video guide for better
that doesn’t quite work out, switch to the safe version that has a larger clearance to cater for demonstration on the expected behavior. If there are intermittent jams, use a pen knife
more printing tolerance (at the slight expense of efficiency) to carefully remove materials from the escape fork on the interfering areas.

2. Pin - Hole Clearance Check : There should be minimal clearance between the pin and
10_Escape_Fork hole on the escape wheel (just enough to provide a minimal friction spin). Try to wobble
the fork around the pin, you should not be able to feel significant movements.

p in
S
Fork should rock
back and forth

Pin to hole clearance needs to be

minimal. This can be achieved by
repeating step 2 on page 19 using
a pin with less burrs.

Ensure that there are no

elephants foot here. Use a pen
knife to clean up if necessary
Assembly - Part 5.1 : Axis 1 Tourbillon
6) Insert 2 washers to the top of the wheel and fork followed by the cage bridge. If the pins are too tightly fitted into [Checkpoint #3]
the corresponding holes on the bridge, use a 1.5mm drill bit to loosen the holes. Secure the bridge using M2x5 Inspect the wheel and fork from the side, there should be a gap between
screws. Be careful not to over-tighten the screws the bridge and the washers as illustrated. It does not have to be a visible
M2x5 Screw (x2)
gap; you could try moving the escape wheel and fork along the length of
the pin and you should feel a slight allowable movement. Reprint thinner
Washer (x2)
05_Cage_Bridge washers by scaling them along z if binding is observed.

Perform the steps from Checkpoint #2 one more time.

There should be a slight

gap here

Wheel and fork should be able

to slightly move along the
direction of the yellow arrows

[Checkpoint #4]
Ensure that the bridge is visually parallel to the bottom side of the base

should be visually
parallel
Assembly - Part 5.1 : Axis 1 Tourbillon
7) Insert the impulse pin to the middle pin. position the both of the pin within the escape fork groove as illustrated
[Checkpoint #5]
below
you will be guided to cycle through all the phases of the fork, pin and
07_Impulse_Pin
wheel interactions the step by step guide on the next slide to ensure that
the mechanism works well. It will be helpful to first understand the basic
terminologies of the fork as shown below. I also highly recommend
watching this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmk2mA6dg3o
of the Swiss Lever escapement in action.

Escape Fork Terminologies

t
t

alle
lle
Pa

ht P
Locking Face

t
Lef
Locking Face

Rig
Impulse Face Impulse Face

The next 2 pages will be

focusing on this area
Checkpoint #5 : The Escapement Mechanism

1 Palle
Left
t 2 3

Lef t
le

Pal t
h
t

let
Pa l

Rig
Pa ht
llet
Rig
power
unlock transfer
lock Lower stopper pin small gap

1) Start from the right pallet locking face engagement. The
fork is in contact with the lower stopper pin. Escape
wheel always tries to rotate counter-clockwise (CCW)
and is in locking contact with the fork as shown, thus
unable to rotate.
2) The balance wheel + impulse pin swings back
clockwise (CW) and nudges the fork to rotate CCW.
The nudge will cause the escape wheel finger to be
released from the locked position. There should be a
small gap between the left pallet and wheel finger
3) The escape wheel finger now slides along the impulse
face of the right pallet. the energy from the
mainspring that is transferred all the way to the
escape wheel is now partly being transferred to the
fork and finally to the impulse pin + balance wheel

Upper stopper pin

4 5 6

unlock
lock
small
Exit
gap
point

4) The escape wheel finger eventually exits the right pallet
when the fork fully swings to the upper stopper pin.
There should be a small gap at the exit point as
illustrated. You may use a pen knife to carefully remove
some material at the fork if no gap is observed
5) The escape wheel finger then strikes the left pallet
6) The impulse pin nudges the fork again. Escape wheel +
locking face and will remain in this position till the
fork will unlocked at the left pallet. At this position, check
balance wheel makes another full swing, rotating back
that a gap exists between the right pallet with the wheel
CCW
fingers
Checkpoint #5 : The Escapement Mechanism

7 8 9

power Exit
transfer point
lock

7) Escape wheel finger slides along impulse face of the
fork, transferring energy once again to rotate the fork
clockwise.
8) The wheel finger then exits the left pallet as the fork is
fully swing to the right. Ensure that there is a gap at the
exit point. You may use a pen knife to gently remove
some material at the fork at the point of interference if
necessary.
9) The wheel eventually locks with the fork again on the
right pallet and the mechanism completes a full cycle
that repeats itself.
Assembly - Part 5.1 : Axis 1 Tourbillon
8) Remove the impulse pin and insert the hairspring followed by the balance wheel. The fitting should be tight: Use a [Checkpoint #6]
hammer to knock the impulse pin into the assembly and ensure that it is fully inserted. Pay extra attention to the • Ensure that there are no visible gaps between the impulse pin flange,

assembly orientation of the impulse pin, hairspring and balance wheel. It has to be identical to the illustration • Run a spare 1.5mm pin through the assembly and give it a spin. Look
below. from the side and ensure that the balance wheel does not wobble too
much. It excessive wobble is observed, it is likely that it is not fully
orientation
inserted or the impulse pin hole is tilted during the reaming process on
features
page 11.

Gap Check (must

be flushed)

Sp
in
lightly Hammer the impulse pin to
ensure that it is fully inserted
any spare long
1.5mm pin

Impulse Pin should protrude

slightly. place any spacer below
before knocking on the impulse pin
 Assembly - Part 5.1 : Axis 1 Tourbillon
9) Insert the balance wheel assembly and use any long flat tool to press the hairspring post into the lower cage slot
as shown. Insert another washer to the top of the balance wheel assembly
[Checkpoint #7]
Check the assembly from the side, the hairspring should not be tilted
relative to the lower base. You may be required to gently tap on either
the front or rear side of the hairspring notch to adjust the tilt.

you may be required to gently

tap of either sides of the notch
to correct the hairspring tilt

Washer should
still be present Hairspring should be visually
parallel to the lower cage

[Checkpoint #8]
“Transparent View” - Impulse pin notch there should be balanced gap between the balance wheel and all 3 sides
should sit into the escape fork cavity
of the lower cage arms.

Gently hammer this

area to secure the
hairspring

Gap check (X3 places)

Assembly - Part 5.1 : Axis 1 Tourbillon
[Checkpoint #9] 10) {Optional} Follow through steps 1 to 5 (and repeat if necessary) to loosen the printed M2.5
Give the escape wheel a very gentle and constant counter-clockwise rotation as illustrated to thread on the cage spacer. You can also use a plier in place of the spacer holder
activate the escapement mechanism. Take note that it is normal for the mechanism to have
61_Axis_1_Cage_
intermittent jams due to the difficulty to apply a constant force on the escape wheel. When that 1 Spacer 2
happens, give the escape fork a nudge to reset the position of the impulse pin. As long as it
Tool_Tourbillon_
runs relatively smoothly without major jams or resistance, we are good to move on. a detailed Spacer_Holder
check will be carried out later.

The fitting should be relatively loose

Insert the axis 1 cage spacer to the spacer

holder tool. Orientation does not matter

e
at
t
ro

Drive the screw along the full length of the thread

and back out. Repeat several times till the screw Drive a M2.5X8 (or longer) screw into the
can be easily driven into the threads. printed threads carefully. It should be tight on
the first pass

manually oscillate
Remove the screw and the spacer once
fork to reset jams completed. Repeat for the other 2 identical
spacers
 Assembly - Part 5.1 : Axis 1 Tourbillon
11) Apply super glue or any suitable adhesive to the indicated areas of the lower cage and 12) Assemble the upper cage onto the lower cage and secure it using M2.5x6 screws. Use the
attach the 3X cage spacers that was prepared in the previous step. Take note of the center pin to position the upper cage relative to the lower cage and be careful during the
assembly orientation with reference to the illustration tightening of the screws to not introduce any tilt to the center pin.

Apply some super glue

on and around the
protruded pin area

Chamfered feature
must be facing
upwards

61_Axis_1_Cage_
Spacer (x3)
Assembly - Part 5.1 : Axis 1 Tourbillon
13) Insert the Axis 1 Ring gear onto the upper frame. There are 6 notches around the ring gear and take
[Checkpoint #10] note on the orientation as illustrated. The ring gear should be flexible if you adhere to the
Check the assembly from the side, there should be a small gap between recommended print settings and is required to be slightly deformed and snap fitted into place
the washer above the impulse pin and the upper cage. There should also
be visible gap between the balance wheel and the upper cage

A small gap should

be present here

Gap check (3 places):

Balance wheel to upper cage

Assembly - Part 5.1 : Axis 1 Tourbillon
14) Perform the pin-hole preparation steps on page 4 to the middle pin hole of the base. The base should
be able to rotate smoothly around the pin. Insert the Tourbillon cage assembly into the upper base.
The escape wheel will mesh with the ring gear. The assembly is now complete!

Pin-hole prep here

Assembly - Part 5.1 : Axis 1 Tourbillon
[Checkpoint]
• View the assembly from the side and there should be a visible gap between the Escape wheel + Escape fork with the ring gear.

• Apply a small but consistent force to rotate the cage clockwise to activate the tourbillon. You may be required to fiddle the fork slightly to kickstart the mechanism. let the
mechanism run for a several revolutions and ensure that the escape wheel - ring gear gap is maintained through the entire revolution.

• Check the meshing between the escape wheel and ring gear though one full revolution

swing to kickstart

Rotate

Gap Check. Insert a washer

between the base and lower
cage if insufficient gap is
observed